[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       TRIBUTE TO FRANKLIN JONES

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, as we come to the conclusion of the 103d 
Congress, taking stock of what we have done and listing those things we 
would like to do in the next Congress if the voters permit, I think of 
a friend in New Mexico who has served both the U.S. Senate and the 
State of New Mexico with great distinction.
  Franklin Jones is one of New Mexico's best and most talented sons. 
His career, one which blends private practice with public service, is 
not unique in our State. Many people have done it, but none with the 
skill of Franklin Jones. He is an organizational wizard who has brought 
to bear on tax structure not only his vision, but his sense of fairness 
and a master mechanic's knowledge of how things work.
  Knowing what a difference Franklin could make to the Senate's way of 
doing things, Senator Domenici asked him to come to Washington some 20 
years ago for a few years of duty on the Budget Committee staff. That 
the Senate has not caught up to Franklin Jones is not for his lack of 
trying.
  His work in New Mexico is legendary and our State owes him a great 
debt, for not only is he the guiding hand behind many of our public 
policies, he is the good friend and helping hand to lots of people, 
including Anne and me. He is a formidable and challenging intellectual 
presence in the lives of all of us who seek his advice. To have known 
his friendship as well as his counsel is something I will cherish all 
of my life.
  He has known for a little more than a year that he has a swifter 
clock than the rest of us. These have been months full of important 
work, clear thought and undiminished quality. In the effort to treat 
his fatal illness as just one more project to deliver with grace, he is 
aided by his remarkable wife, Bernice, and the confidence that this, 
too, could be managed. And manage they do, just as we expected they 
would. With gallantry and grace, they have met every change, every 
setback.
  Lessons in living come to us every day. Lessons in dying are not as 
abundant. Franklin has given us both. Our thoughts and prayers are with 
him and his family.

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